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Sacred
Elana K. Arnold
Synopsis: From National Book Award finalist, Elana K Arnold, comes a fantastical story full of hope and romance.
 
Growing up on Catalina Island, off the California coast, Scarlett Wenderoth has led a fairly isolated life. After her brother dies, her isolation deepens as she withdraws into herself, shutting out her friends and boyfriend. Her parents, shattered by their own sorrow, fail to notice Scarlett's pain and sudden alarming thinness. Scarlett’s only outlet is her horse with whom she escapes to the heart of the island on long, solitary rides. One day, as she races around a bend, Scarlett is startled by a boy who raises his hand in warning and says one word: "Stop."
 
The boy—intense and beautiful—is Will Cohen, a newcomer to the island. For reasons he can't or won't explain, he's drawn to Scarlett and feels compelled to keep her safe, and to keep her from wasting away. His meddling irritates Scarlett, though she can't deny her attraction to him. As their relationship blossoms into love, Scarlett's body slowly awakens at Will's touch. But just when her grief begins to ebb, she makes a startling discovery about Will, a discovery he's been grappling with himself. A discovery that threatens to force them apart. And if it does, Scarlett fears she will unravel all over again.
 
 
"Will appeal to many teens, especially fans of the Twilight series."—Booklist
 
"Filled with tension and angst. . . . Readers will be looking for the next installment."—School Library Journal
 
"A poignant novel of loss and grief, but also of hope."—VOYA
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Fiction
Speed of Light
Amber Kizer
Synopsis: Fans will be thrilled with the final novel in the Meridian trilogy as the romance between Meridian and Tens heats up. And Juliet returns, but her obsessions leave her open to evil exploitation.

Meridian Sozu is a Fenestra, an angel infused human, destined to transition souls into the next world. Together with Tens Valdes, her soulmate and Protector, they've made a home in Indiana, making sure the dead safely enter the light and aren't stolen by the Dark, known as the Nocti.

Upon rescuing Juliet Ambrose from her terrible childhood, Juliet has become vulnerable without her Protector and grasps at any hope to find her parents, even when it's offered by a proven Nocti, Ms. Asura. Juliet is now faced with the horrible choice between uncovering her past and having a future.

Meanwhile, time may be running out for the hundreds of thousands preparing for the festivities surrounding the Indianapolis 500 car race. As centuries of secrets are revealed, the battles will pit Light versus Dark. Not all with survive as Meridian, Tens, and Julie join forces to try to thwart a potential tragedy.
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Adventure
The Immortal Von B
Steven Walker, M. Scott Carter
Synopsis: M. Scott Carter follows up his well received young adult novel debut, STEALING KEVIN'S HEART, with another tender love story with a twist. When Josie Brunswick has to move to Europe so her dad can head up a new secret world genetics lab, she doesn't think life could get any worse. Then her beloved musician mother dies, and she is left to all but raise herself. Music becomes her one reason to live, until an experiment in her dad's lab gives her something unbelievable to focus on, something that will send her on a mad and dangerous adventure through Europe and through time. Before it s all over THE IMMORTAL VON B. will have answered the question: Could a teen-age girl from this century find love with a young composer from another?
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Make Magic! Do Good!
Dallas Clayton, Dallas Clayton
Synopsis: From from an exciting new face in children’s literature, Dallas Clayton, comes a book of illustrated poems full of wisdom, wonder, and whimsy.

A boy with a beard tries to stay six forever. A frightful monster lives a million miles away, but is equally scared of you. A magic rope hangs from the sky, next to a sign saying "Give me a try." In this brightly illustrated selection of playful, often provocative poems, ideas run the gamut from stopping your lightning-fast running to help others keep up, imagining a store that sells colors never before made, or admitting you’ll never know all the answers (and sleeping better at night). Following the runaway success of his self-published debut, Dallas Clayton’s quirky, captivating collection makes it clear that this rising talent, whose work has evoked comparisons to Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, and Shel Silverstein, exudes a spirit and style all his own.
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: Any Age
Genre: Poetry
The Always War
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Synopsis: Unending war leads to the discovery of uneasy truths when two teens question the status quo in this riveting thriller.

For as long as Tessa can remember, her country has been at war. When local golden boy Gideon Thrall is awarded a medal for courage, it’s a rare bright spot for everyone in Tessa’s town—until Gideon refuses the award, claims he was a coward, and runs away. Tessa is bewildered, and she can’t help but follow Gideon to find out the truth. But Tessa is in for more than she bargained for. Before she knows it, she has stowed away on a rogue airplane and is headed for enemy territory. But all that pales when she discovers a shocking truth that rocks the foundation of everything she’s ever believed—a truth that will change the world. Is Tessa strong enough to bring it into the light?
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Mason Dixon: Fourth-Grade Disasters
Guy Francis, Claudia Mills
Synopsis: Here's the second entry in Claudia Mills's charming middle-grade series, that finds the lovably sardonic title character starting the fourth grade, which he's dreading because everyone in fourth grade is expected to join the school choir. And sing. In front of everyone. Mason can't think of many things he enjoys less than singing--but performing in front of other people might come close. Mason devises a foolproof plan that will keep him out of the spotlight on concert night. Of course, in the world of Mason Dixon, there is no such thing as a foolproof plan. There is only disaster.
Publication Date: 11/13/12
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Humor
The Pull
Chelsie Shakespeare
Synopsis: Evie Remington had always done what people expected of her. As a result, at twenty-six she finds herself the unhappy owner and manager of a Denver hotel. That is, until deep-rooted memories of a past life and the hidden knowledge of a promise she made in that other lifetime pulls her away from it all. Without knowing where it will lead, Evie sets out on a cross-country journey that will challenge what she believes about life, death, and love.
Publication Date: 11/10/12
Age Level: Mature Young Adult
Genre: Romance
The Pull
Chelsie Shakespeare
Synopsis: Evie Remington had always done what people expected of her. As a result, at twenty-six she finds herself the unhappy owner and manager of a Denver hotel. That is, until deep-rooted memories of a past life and the hidden knowledge of a promise she made in that other lifetime pulls her away from it all. Without knowing where it will lead, Evie sets out on a cross-country journey that will challenge what she believes about life, death, and love.
Publication Date: 11/10/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Romance
In the Shadow of the Lion
Kimberly M. Jane
Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Kathleen Gallant is on an archaeological adventure at Tsavo East National Park in Kenya when she unearths the grave of an ancient woman known as Njeri. The natives are horrified by this discovery; Njeri is so infamous that no local will even speak her name. They fear the discovery of Njeri's corpse will bring about pestilence and disease upon their tribe. The legend of Njeri goes back to the mystical Mchanga and Misitu War. This war was fought long ago, and historians are still unsure of how it ended. It seems the soldiers from this war apparently disappeared. Now news of local villagers either gone missing and even some found dead are worrying her friends, but Kathleen feels strangely drawn to the story of Njeri; she begins to have nightmares and visions of a past life and a battle of wills. Someone is taking over Kathleen's young mind-someone who wants revenge. With the help of her new friends Sekani and Okechuku, Kathleen discovers the ancient war never really ended. Under the influence of Njeri, she learns more about the past than she ever expected to-and realizes she may become the weapon through which Njeri exacts her revenge.
Publication Date: 11/08/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fiction
Shadowheart
Tad Williams
Synopsis: "When it comes to inventing new worlds, he's as skilled as J.R.R. Tolkien and Frank Herbert." -Christopher Paolini, bestselling author of Eragon.

Southmarch Castle is about to be caught between two implacable enemies, the ancient, immortal Qar and the insane god-king, the Autarch of Xis. Meanwhile, its two young defenders, Princess Briony and Prince Barrick, are both trapped far away from home and fighting for their lives.

And now, something is awakening underneath Southmarch Castle, something powerful and terrible that the world has not seen for thousands of years. Can Barrick and Briony, along with a tiny handful of allies, ordinary and extraordinary, find a way to save their world and prevent the rise of a terrible new age-an age of unending darkness?

Publication Date: 11/06/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
The Wild Ways
Tanya Huff
Synopsis: "The Gales are an amazing family, the aunts will strike fear into your heart, and the characters Allie meets are both charming and terrifying." -#1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris

Alysha Gale's cousin Charlotte is a Wild Power, who allies herself with a family of Selkies in a fight against offshore oil drilling. The oil company has hired another of the Gale family's Wild Powers, the fearsome Auntie Catherine, to steal the Selkies' sealskins. To defeat her, Charlotte will have to learn what born to be Wild really means in the Gale family...

Publication Date: 11/06/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
Polterheist
Laura Resnick
Synopsis: In the days leading up to Christmas, struggling actress Esther Diamond is working as a singing-and-dancing elf at Fenster & Co, a major Manhattan department store. As if dealing with hordes of holiday shoppers isn't bad enough, Esther's ex-almost-boyfriend, Detective Connor Lopez, is on the scene investigating a series of mob-related truck hijackings of Fenster's merchandise. Semi-retired hitman Lucky Battistuzzi is also nosing around, since the mob resents being implicated in thefts they didn't commit. But when supernatural mishaps occur, Esther realizes this is more than the usual holiday insanity—it's time to call in her friend Max, Manhattan's resident mage.

Esther and Max discover that Fenster's has become the staging ground for the rebirth of an ancient demon that's plotting to escape its mystical prison on the winter solstice. As dimensional barriers crumble, can Esther rescue her fellow elves, save her city from demonic disaster, and collect her paycheck in time to make rent?

Polterheist is the thrilling fifth installment of the Esther Diamond series.
Publication Date: 11/06/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Fantasy
The Creative Fire (Book One of Ruby's Song)
Synopsis: Nothing can match the power of a single voice...

Ruby Martin expects to spend her days repairing robots while avoiding the dangerous peacekeeping forces that roam the corridors of the generation ship The Creative Fire. The social structure of the ship is rigidly divided, with Ruby and her friends on the bottom. Then a ship-wide accident gives Ruby a chance to fight for the freedom she craves. Her enemies are numerous, well armed, and knowledgeable. Her weapons are a fabulous voice, a quick mind, and a deep stubbornness. Complicating it all--an unreliable A.I. and an enigmatic man she met - and kissed - exactly once--who may hold the key to her success. If Ruby can't transform from a rebellious teen to the leader of a revolution, she and all her friends will lose all say in their future.

Like the historical Evita Perón, Ruby rises from the dregs of society to hold incredible popularity and power. Her story is about love and lust and need and a thirst for knowledge and influence so deep that it burns.
Publication Date: 11/06/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Series
Apollo's Outcasts
Allen Steele
Synopsis: Jamey Barlowe has been crippled since childhood, the result of being born on the Moon. He lives his life in a wheelchair, only truly free when he is in the water. But then Jamey's father sends him, along with five other kids, back to the Moon to escape a political coup d'etat that has occurred overnight in the United States. Moreover, one of the other five refugees is more than she appears.

Their destination is the mining colony, Apollo. Jamey will have to learn a whole new way to live, one that entails walking for the first time in his life. It won't be easy and it won't be safe. But Jamey is determined to make it as a member of Lunar Search and Rescue, also known as the Rangers. This job is always risky, but could be even more dangerous if the new U.S. president makes good on her threat to launch a military invasion.

Soon Jamey is front and center in a political and military struggle stretching from the Earth to the Moon.
Publication Date: 11/06/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction
The Lazarus Machine
Paul Crilley
Synopsis: Steampunk adventure for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who

An alternate 1895, A world where Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace perfected the Difference Engine. Where steam and Tesla-powered computers are everywhere. Where automatons powered by human souls venture out into the sprawling London streets. Where the Ministry, a secretive government agency, seeks to control everything in the name of the Queen.

It is in this claustrophobic, paranoid city that seventeen-year old Sebastian Tweed and his conman father struggle to eke out a living. But all is not well. A murderous, masked gang has moved into London, spreading terror through the criminal ranks as they take over the underworld. As the gang carves up more and more of the city, a single name comes to be uttered in fearful whispers, Professor Moriarty.

When Tweed's father is kidnapped by Moriarty, he is forced to team up with information broker, Octavia Nightingale, to track him down. But he soon realizes that his father's disappearance is just a tiny piece of a political conspiracy that could destroy the British Empire and plunge the world into a horrific war.
Publication Date: 11/06/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction
Alienation
Jon S. Lewis
Synopsis:

Earth’s last line of defense against the coming alien invasion is 16-year-old surfer Colt McAlister.

But before he can save the world, he has to survive the day.

All Colt wants to do is return to his old life . . . where aliens don’t exist . . . where mankind hasn’t been targeted for destruction . . . and where his parents are still alive. Unfortunately life doesn’t work that way.

The United States government believes Colt holds the key to our survival, so they’re sending him to the CHAOS Military Academy along with his best friends Oz and Danielle. There they’ll be trained to defend Earth against a swarm of alien shape shifters known as the Thule. But someone is trying to eliminate Colt before he can lead that charge. Shocked to learn about key events in his past and unsure who he can trust, he is alienated and on the run.

In a world of high-tech gear, shape-shifting aliens, simulated reality, and hover boards, Colt must step into his true destiny before our world falls into chaos.

“Non-stop, action-packed thrills and excitement made it impossible to put down . . . [a] cliffhanger that left me wanting more.” —SciFiChick.com

Publication Date: 11/06/12
Age Level: 12 and up
Genre: Science Fiction

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